Ulster Democratic Party

The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) was a conservative and Ulster nationalist political party in Northern Ireland that existed from June 1981 to November 2001, serving as the political wing of the Ulster Defense Association. The party was founded by John McMichael, Tommy English, and other Ulster Protestant paramilitary leaders, and the UDP supported independence for Northern Ireland as a member of the European Union, as well as the creation of a Northern Ireland Assembly. The party's views conflicted with the views of the mainstream UDA, which advocated Ulster unionism and not nationalism. In 2001, the party dissolved due to internal divisions.